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Duryea shooting: One hospitalized, two arrested

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Happy birthday, Roman Salvatore Sedon!

<p>If the release of their self-titled 2016 debut album and 2017 EP allowed Dustin Douglas &amp; The Electric Gentlemen to establish themselves as a unique and burgeoning force in the blues community, their upcoming record has allowed them to spread their sonic wings.</p><p>&#8220;Break It Down,&#8221; the second full-length LP by the Wilkes-Barre blues-rock power trio, is scheduled for release on June 1, and the record takes the guitar-heavy, hard-edged sound, which the group has made its signature, for a progressive turn. In celebration of the release, the Gentlemen will perform at the F.M. Kirby Center on June 2.</p><p>The first thing that&#8217;s apparent on &#8220;Break It Down,&#8221; is that the Gentlemen, led by songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Dustin Douglas, threw the rule book out the window.</p><p>&#8220;Bending the rules, that&#8217;s always been our thing,&#8221; Douglas said Monday in a phone interview. &#8220;In no way is this traditional blues; we are a blues-rock outfit. And people tend to gravitate toward that, especially at a blues festival with traditional stuff all around.&#8221;</p><p>But even for a band that&#8217;s made its name blending genres, the volume expresses a new set of ideas and sensibilities and a seemingly complete willingness to let nothing be off limits.</p><p>&#8220;The self-titled record was mostly written by me. This is more of a full-band collaboration,&#8221; Douglas said, crediting bandmates Tommy Smallcomb and Matt &#8220;The Dane&#8221; Gabriel in the band&#8217;s progression. &#8220;We pulled from upwards of 30 pieces and full songs and riffs and items. We wanted to &#8230; choose from the cream of the crop, thinking it would be easier, but it ended up being more of a task. In the end, it really benefited us, because it&#8217;s some of the best stuff we&#8217;ve ever done.&#8221;</p><p>Opening track &#8220;A Little Bit&#8221; leads with a distinctly hip-hop drum and bass sound before giving way to screeching blues guitar.</p><p>&#8220;We wanted to step outside the box and out of our comfort zone,&#8221; Douglas said. &#8220;That track, for a long time after it was demoed, was titled &#8216;hip-hop song.&#8217; &#8220;It has that groove to it. I love hip-hop grooves; that&#8217;s never far of a stretch for me. I think it began with the drums, and then the bass line was written. The guitar groove is there, but it&#8217;s not a guitar-driven song, which makes the guitar stand out a bit, because it&#8217;s more abrasive when it comes in.&#8221;</p><p>Mid-track tune &#8220;Goodbye,&#8221; except for a hint of Southern slide guitar, departs from traditional blues altogether.</p><p>&#8220;Goodbye is one of my favorite tracks on the record,&#8221; Douglas said. &#8220;That&#8217;s definitely the rock side of us, for sure. It&#8217;s played in open G tuning, so it has that Black Crowes and Faces feel to it. It&#8217;s my ode to old school R&amp;B-influenced rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll.&#8221;</p><p>One of the most immediately catchy songs on a record full of memorable riffs is &#8220;My Time Is Precious,&#8221; which sounds composed of equal parts bouncy Stevie Ray Vaughan blues and poppy Prince funk.</p><p>&#8220;The funk aspect is definitely something that creeps into our writing a lot,&#8221; Douglas said. &#8220;I love the way that funk feels. That feels really comfortable for us.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Ain&#8217;t No Denyin&#8217;&#8221; is the ballad of &#8220;Break It Down,&#8221; showcasing Douglas&#8217; lyrical side, addressing the current social turbulence in America.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not too political, but we kind of have to stick together, because no matter what class you are or where you stand politically, we&#8217;re in a crazy time right now. Lyrically, I like this song because it carries more of a message than some of the other tunes.&#8221;</p><p>In an almost prog-rock display, &#8220;Tragedy&#8221; presents another experimental venture for the Gentlemen.</p><p>&#8220;It is totally a new territory for us,&#8221; Douglas said. &#8220;That was a riff Matt had for many years, and he brought it to rehearsal. Matt started the ball rolling. It&#8217;s almost a strange song that it&#8217;s even (ours). It&#8217;s definitely a ride not only for the listener but for us. It&#8217;s refreshing because it&#8217;s different.&#8221;</p><p>The album, Douglas said, is a portrait of the band at this moment in time.</p><p>&#8220;Even though it has a lot of different elements, I feel it&#8217;s the most cohesive album I ever wrote,&#8221; Douglas said. It&#8217;s not going to be the last, and it&#8217;s not the first, but it&#8217;s where we are now; this is a photograph of that.&#8221;</p><p>Fans who have identified with the band&#8217;s previous work need not worry; &#8220;Break It Down&#8221; is still full of delightfully irreverent blues-rock showcasing Douglas&#8217; adept instrumentation and the seamless rhythm work of Smallcomb and Gabriel.</p><p>Excited for the year ahead, the Wilkes-Barre musicians are looking forward to an album release show on their home turf.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re a band that loves to play live, and we love to play our hometown. Will (Beekman) and everybody at the Kirby, I&#8217;m still in awe that they allow us to go in there and do this,&#8221; Douglas said of the venue&#8217;s executive director and staff. We&#8217;ve been rehearsing the new record-cycle show, and we&#8217;re thrilled to put it in front of people.&#8221;</p><p>Following the June 2 show at the Kirby, Dustin Douglas &amp; The Electric Gentlemen will perform June 5 on 105 and 103.5 The River&#8217;s &#8220;Music on the Menu Live&#8221; with Alan K. Stout at Breakers at Mohegan Sun Pocono in Plains Township.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Dustin Douglas performs with his band, The Electric Gentlemen, Friday night, May 18, at the Fine Arts Fiesta in Wilkes-Barre. The blues-rock outfit will release their latest record, &#8216;Break It Down,&#8217; on June 1. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_Dustin-Douglas-4.jpg</photo0><caption0>Dustin Douglas performs with his band, The Electric Gentlemen, Friday night, May 18, at the Fine Arts Fiesta in Wilkes-Barre. The blues-rock outfit will release their latest record, &#8216;Break It Down,&#8217; on June 1. </caption0><photoCredit0>Amanda Hrycyna | For Weekender </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_Dustin-Douglas-7.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Drummer Tommy Smallcomb performs during a Fine Arts Fiesta gig by Dustin Douglas &amp; The Electric Gentlemen May 18 on Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Public Square. The band will perform on June 2 at the F.M. Kirby Center in celebration of the release of its latest record. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_Dustin-Douglas-7.jpg</photo1><caption1>Drummer Tommy Smallcomb performs during a Fine Arts Fiesta gig by Dustin Douglas &amp; The Electric Gentlemen May 18 on Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Public Square. The band will perform on June 2 at the F.M. Kirby Center in celebration of the release of its latest record. </caption1><photoCredit1>Amanda Hrycyna | For Weekender </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_Dustin-Douglas-8.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Dustin Douglas and Matt &#8216;The Dane&#8217; Gabriel perform onstage together. Douglas said the variety of sounds on the band&#8217;s upcoming record is a testament to a full-band writing process. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_Dustin-Douglas-8.jpg</photo2><caption2>Dustin Douglas and Matt &#8216;The Dane&#8217; Gabriel perform onstage together. Douglas said the variety of sounds on the band&#8217;s upcoming record is a testament to a full-band writing process. </caption2><photoCredit2>Amanda Hrycyna | For Weekender </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_Dustin-Douglas-9.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Dustin Douglas has established himself as one of Northeastern Pennsylvania&#8217;s premier guitarists, and, as the frontman for Dustin Douglas &amp; The Electric Gentleman, he has allowed his songwriting abilities to work in conjunction with his love for blues-rock. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_Dustin-Douglas-9.jpg</photo3><caption3>Dustin Douglas has established himself as one of Northeastern Pennsylvania&#8217;s premier guitarists, and, as the frontman for Dustin Douglas &amp; The Electric Gentleman, he has allowed his songwriting abilities to work in conjunction with his love for blues-rock. </caption3><photoCredit3>Amanda Hrycyna | For Weekender </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Dustin Douglas &amp; The Electric Gentlemen to release &#8216;Break It Down&#8217; June 1</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>&#8216;Break It Down&#8217;</strong></p><p>The new album by Dustin Douglas &amp; The Electric Gentlemen features 13 original tracks and will be available June 1 through iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and all other major digital outlets. Physical copies will be available at Wilkes-Barre area record stores Gallery of Sound and Music Go Round.</p><p><strong>F.M. Kirby Center</strong></p><p>The band will perform in the Chandelier Lobby of the downtown Wilkes-Barre Theater, 71 Public Square, on June 2 in celebration of the release of &#8216;Break It Down.&#8217;</p><p>Tickets cost $15 in advance and $20 the day of the show and are available through the Kirby Center box office, online at kirbycenter.org and by phone at 570-826-1100.</p><p><strong>&#8216;Music On The Menu Live&#8217;</strong></p><p>Dustin Douglas &amp; The Electric Gentlemen will play the 105 and 103.5 The River live music series hosted by local journalist and radio personality Alan K. Stout. The performance will take place from 7 to 8 p.m. June 5 at Breakers at Mohegan Sun Pocono, 1280 state Route 315, Plains Township. There is no cover to attend the show, and the performance will be broadcast live on the River&#8217;s frequencies.</p></factboxMeta></div>

Dustin Douglas & The Electric Gentlemen enter ‘new territory’ with latest album